Bolton leads a field, which features six men who have claimed Ironman titles in their careers.Bolton claimed the first Ironman title of his career in Lake Placid in 2002, posting an overall time of eight hours, 39 minutes and 19 seconds, more than 14 minutes ahead of second-place finisher Kirill Litovtsenko of Estonia.

Bolton made his Ironman debut in 2002 in strong fashion, finishing second at Ironman USA Lake Placid with an overall time of eight hours, 41 minutes and 53 seconds, less than 10 minutes behind champion Steve Larsen.

Bolton claimed the St. Croix Half-Ironman title in May 2001 before his impressive performance at Ironman USA last year. His finish time of 4:07:23 brought him in more than two minutes ahead of the second-place finisher Peter Sandvang.

The Wyoming native represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, the first Olympic Games to feature the sport of triathlon.

Bolton joins Canada's Heather Fuhr to give the 2003 HSBC Ironman USA Lake Placid triathlon the defending champions on both the men's and women's side. Fuhr has won the Lake Placid event three times in her career.

A number of male athletes should be in the mix to challenge Bolton for the 2003 Lake Placid title, including 2002 Ironman Wisconsin champion Chris Lieto (Danville, Calif.) and 2002 Ironman Florida champion Jason Shortis (Australia).

Lieto posted the first Ironman win of his career at the inaugural Ironman Wisconsin triathlon held in Madison, Wisc., in September of 2002. Lieto held off a late charge by Australia's Chris Legh to take the title with an overall time of eight hours, 46 minutes and 30 seconds.

The 31-year-old Lieto is fresh off a top-five finish at Ironman New Zealand and has been in the top ten at the Ralphs California Half-Ironman and Ironman Austria in his career.

Shortis, 33, has had an impressive triathlon career, posting 10 top-five finishes in Ironman events around the world, including winning the Ironman Florida title in November of 2002. Shortis posted an overall time of eight hours, 27 minutes and 44 seconds in claiming the Florida title, the first of his long career.

Most recently, Shortis finished second at his homeland race, Ironman Australia, finishing behind only fellow countryman Chris McCormack. Shortis has been in the top three at the Australia event each of the past three seasons.

Other former Ironman champions set to compete in the event are Legh, Ken Glah (West Chester, Pa.) and Jamie Cleveland (Canada).

Legh posted an Ironman win back in 2000 at Ironman California and is always in the mix at Ironman North America events.

A long-time Ironman veteran, Glah is 13th on the all-time Ironman victory list with six career wins. His six titles include Ironman New Zealand (1992), Ironman Canada (1993), Ironman New Zealand (1993), and Ironman Brazil (1998, 1999, and 2000).

With twenty years experience in triathlon, the 39-year-old Glah has registered an impressive track record. He began racing triathlons in 1982 and has raced in 41 Ironman competitions including Ironman Hawaii 18 times, placing an Ironman World Championship-best in 1993 with a time of 8:24:01. He has competed in Ironman competitions all over the world, placing in thetop three in Brazil, New Zealand, Korea and Japan.

Another in a long line of impressive Canadian triathletes, Cleveland won his first Ironman title of his career in November of 2000 by claiming the Ironman Florida title with an overall time of 8:37:58. Cleveland also won the Canadian National Triathlon Championship and the New Balance HalfIronman in 2000.

2002 saw Cleveland post a fourth-place finish at the inaugural Ironman Wisconsin triathlon held in September in Madison, Wisc.

More than 1,800 athletes from around the U.S. and the world are expected to compete in the event, which enters its fifth year in Lake Placid.

One other athlete who could surprise in Lake Placid is former U.S. Postal Service Team cyclist Chann McRae (Austin, Texas). McRae continues his move into triathlon competition and could surprise in Lake Placid with a strong bike, much like another former professional cyclist, 2001 HSBC Ironman USA Lake Placid champion Steve Larsen.

The HSBC Ironman USA Lake Placid triathlon will serve as the U.S. Ironman Championship in 2003. Athletes will be competing for 100 qualifying spots to the Ironman World Championship held in October in Kona, Hawaii, as well as a $100,000 pro prize purse.Originally posted to ironmanlive.com on 07/25/2003 09:28am by IM Lake Placid.